Coral overgrowth by an encrusting red alga (Ramicrusta sp.): a threat to Caribbean reefs?

Eckrich, C. E.; Engel, M. Sabine

doi:10.1007/s00338-012-0961-5

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…It is likely that this chronology of disturbances acted in concert with enhanced competition for space as a result of increasing cover of macroalgae Lasker 2016, Edmunds 2019), to create a regimen of sequential stressors that overwhelmed the capacity for resistance in P. astreoides, and initiated a reversal of performance rank (i.e., from winner to loser; Grottoli et al 2014). A few years after 2010, a spatially aggressive calcareous crust of peyssonnelid algae appeared in St. John (Edmunds et al 2019), having previously been reported covering 19% of the shallow reefs of Lac Bay, Bonaire, around 2010 (Eckrich and Engel 2013). The appearance of this crust in St. John coincided with the increased frequency of fission affecting P. astreoides at Yawzi Point and Cabritte Horn, with these events associated with peyssonnelids overgrowing and subdividing coral colonies (P. J. Edmunds, personal observation).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Over three decades, a classic winner starts to lose in a Caribbean coral community

2021

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The biological world is rapidly changing following decades of anthropogenic disturbances.Under these conditions, species with stable or increasing abundances have been described as winners with the potential for future success, but this assertion is unreliable without knowledge of the selective basis of winning. The incentive to find winners is acute for reef corals, for which large declines in abundance have motivated restoration efforts targeting winning corals. On Caribbean reefs, Porites astreoides has emerged as a potential winner, but the demographic basis of this categorization is poorly known. Here we test for demographic benchmarks of winning in this species by quantifying abundances and sizes of colonies over 28 yr on the south coast of St. John, US Virgin Islands. From 1992 to 2001, the density of colonies of P. astreoides showed little variation while colonies increased in size by 58%, but from 2002 to 2019, population density increased 2.7-fold, and colony size declined by 41%; accompanying these trends, the mean absolute cover of Porites spp. declined by 46% from 2010 to 2019. Low recruitment and rising abundances of colonies ≤4 cm diameter suggest that partial mortality and fission depressed colony sizes. The reversal over three decades of a positive demographic trend for a ubiquitous coral underscores the challenges of identifying winners from short-term population performance. Without a mechanistic understanding of fitness, the search for winners based on demographic trends may be futile.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Over three decades, a classic winner starts to lose in a Caribbean coral community

2021

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“…(Box & Mumby, 2007), and Ramicrusta spp. (Eckrich & Engel, 2013) can strongly out-compete juvenile corals due to shading and abrasive effects, or inhibit successful coral larval recruitment. Kuffner et al (2006) also found experimental evidence that the combined presence of intermingled unpalatable brown macroalgae and cyanobacteria caused either recruitment inhibition, avoidance behavior or larval mortality in multiple coral species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patrones a gran escala del reclutamiento de coral en Isla Mona, Puerto Rico: evidencia de una trayectoria transitoria de comunidad después del blanqueamiento y mortalidad coralino masivo

Hernández-Delgado

González-Ramos

Alejandro-Camis

2014

RBT

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Abstract:Coral reefs have largely declined across the northeastern Caribbean following the 2005 massive bleaching event. Climate change-related sea surface warming and coral disease outbreaks of a white plague-like syndrome and of yellow band disease (YBD) have caused significant coral decline affecting massive reef building species (i.e., Orbicella annularis species complex) which show no apparent signs of recovery through larval sexual recruitment. We addressed coral recruit densities across three spur and groove reef locations along the western shelf of remote Mona Island, Puerto Rico: Punta Capitán (PCA), Pasa de Las Carmelitas (PLC), and Las Carmelitas-South (LCS). Data were collected during November 2012 along 93 haphazard transects across three depth zones (<5m, 5-10m, 10-15m). A total of 32 coral species (9 octocorals, 1 hydrocoral, 22 scleractinians) were documented among the recruit community. Communities had low densities and dominance by short-lived brooder species seven years after the 2005 event. Mean coral recruit density ranged from 1.2 to 10.5/m 2 at PCA, 6.3 to 7.2/m 2 at LCS, 4.5 to 9.5/m 2 at PLC. Differences in coral recruit community structure can be attributed to slight variation in percent macroalgal cover and composition as study sites had nearly similar benthic spatial heterogeneity. Dominance by ephemeral coral species was widespread. Recovery of largely declining massive reef-building species such as the O. annularis species complex was limited or non-existent. The lack of recovery could be the combined result of several mechanisms involving climate change, YBD disease, macroalgae, fishing, urchins and Mona Island's reefs limited connectivity to other reef systems. There is also for rehabilitation of fish trophic structure, with emphasis in recovering herbivore guilds and depleted populations of D. antillarum. Failing to recognize the importance of ecosystem-based management and resilience rehabilitation may deem remote coral reefs recovery unlikely. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (Suppl. 3): 49-64. Epub 2014 September 01.Key words: Climate change, coral decline, coral recruitment, community trajectory, Mona Island, Puerto Rico, transitional state.Coral larval recruitment is critical for the maintenance of reef biodiversity, ecosystem resilience and benthic community recovery after disturbances across multiple spatial scales (Gittings, Bright, Choi & Barnett, 1988;Sammarco, 1991;Connell, Hughes & Wallace, 1997;Hughes & Tanner, 2000). Coral recruitment refers to the stage when new members of the recently settled juvenile corals become visible to be censused (Harrison & Wallace, 1990). Open reef space is necessary for settling larvae (Hughes & Connell, 1999;Kuffner et al., 2006; Díaz-Pulido et al., 2009), particularly substrates along cryptical microhabitats and areas dominated by crustose coralline algae (CCA), which are recognized by coral larvae (Doropoulos, Ward, Díaz-Pulido, Hoegh-Guldberg & Mumby, 2012). Dynamic processes leading to the creation of free space open for colonization are impor...

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“…6). Given the dramatic and recent increase in abundance of PAC on shallow reefs in the Caribbean [39][40][41][42][43][44] , the absence of scleractinians recruiting to its surfaces 45 , and the strong role of Pseudoalteromonas spp. in the settlement of some marine invertebrate larvae 31 , we hypothesise that the paucity of this microbial genus on PAC may contribute to the recent ecological success of this functional group of algae in the Caribbean.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and Ramicrusta spp. ), have not been extensively studied, and until now, little information is known regarding the taxonomic identity of the species composing the crust, their ecology, or their range distribution 43,68,69 . A recent study in which PAC were observed to be overgrowing corals in the South China Sea revealed that crusts frequently co-occurred in a complex which comprised Ramicrusta textilis, members of the family Peyssonneliaceae and also the genus Lobophora 70 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An unusual microbiome characterises a spatially-aggressive crustose alga rapidly overgrowing shallow Caribbean reefs

Wilson

Fan

Edmunds

2020

Sci Rep

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Several species of crustose coralline algae (CCA) and their associated microbial biofilms play important roles in determining the settlement location of scleractinian corals on tropical reefs. In recent decades, peyssonnelid algal crusts (PAC) have become spatial dominants across large areas of shallow Caribbean reefs, where they appear to deter the recruitment of scleractinians. Our genetic investigations of PAC in St. John, US Virgin Islands, amplifying the large-subunit ribosomal RNA and psbA protein D1 marker genes, revealed them to be identical to Ramicrusta textilis previously reported overgrowing corals in Jamaica. Specimens of PAC sampled from the Honduras were likewise identical, confirming that this crustose alga inhabits the easternmost and westernmost regions of the Caribbean. We also analysed 16S rDNA tag amplicon libraries of the biofilms associated with PAC and sympatric CCA, which is favoured for coral settlement. Our results show that the microbial communities on PAC (vs. CCA) are characterized by significantly lower numbers of the epibiotic bacterial genus Pseudoalteromonas, which facilitates the recruitment and settlement of marine invertebrates. From these data, we infer that PAC are therefore unlikely to be attractive as settlement sites for coral larvae. Given the significant ecological change anticipated on these reefs due to increasing cover of PAC, there is an urgent need to further investigate competitive interactions between PAC and scleractinian corals, and elucidate the role of PAC and their associated microbiomes in accentuating phase shifts from coral to algae on tropical reefs.

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Coral overgrowth by an encrusting red alga (Ramicrusta sp.): a threat to Caribbean reefs?

Cited by 22 publications

References 28 publications

Over three decades, a classic winner starts to lose in a Caribbean coral community

Over three decades, a classic winner starts to lose in a Caribbean coral community

Patrones a gran escala del reclutamiento de coral en Isla Mona, Puerto Rico: evidencia de una trayectoria transitoria de comunidad después del blanqueamiento y mortalidad coralino masivo

An unusual microbiome characterises a spatially-aggressive crustose alga rapidly overgrowing shallow Caribbean reefs

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